Egg & Aubergine Sabich Sandwich

This sounded so strange I had to try it. The boy (aka The Sandwich Monster) was up for it so we gave it a go. Apparently it’s an Israeli dish from the 1940s.

1 small aubergine

Salt

Olive oil

2 organic few range eggs

3tbsp tahini

2tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp water

2tsp extra virgin olive oil

1tsp ea finely chopped coriander and parsley

½ tsp jalapeno, deseeded and finely chopped

1 pickled gherkin, thinly sliced lengthways

4 slices of good bread

The boy has been in charge of the bread and has brought home two Turkish flat breads. They are about 16” in diameter and an inch thick. Sliced in half they will make perfect pockets. As I knew he was going to the Turkish grocer I got him to pick up some spicy gherkin pickles as these will be more authentic – though one will be enough for both our sandwiches and they do need to be sliced very thinly.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Slice the aubergine lengthways about the thickness of a pound coin and coat them in oil. Bake them in a tray in the hot oven for 25 minutes. The edges should be crisping up a bit. Cool them to room temperature.

Boil the eggs for 7 minutes. We’re using large ones. Again allow to cool. We’ve found an interesting CD of Jewish music from Iraq, recorded in 1920. Not sure what I think about it but it adds atmosphere.

Whisk together the tahini, herbs, jalapeno, lemon juice and the decent olive oil. It should form a spreadable paste.

The boy is slicing the eggs and cutting the flatbreads in half. He only ever helps under two conditions – duress or ensuring it will be ready to eat sooner. In the case of any sandwich it will be the latter.

Spread each side of the bread with the tahini mix. Layer the sliced egg on the bottom half of each, sprinkle with salt and then some sliced aubergine. Cover with the wafer thin gherkin. Top with the tahini coated top-half of bread.

It’s an unusual taste but very good and I’ve never seen the boy knowingly turn down a sandwich.

Pasta with Yoghurt and Peas

The boy grew up thinking pasta only ever included sauces based on tomato. He’s been very happily persuaded otherwise. It’s  funny time of year – not warm or cold so this should be ideal. Warming but fresh tasting at the same time.

500ml Turkish yoghurt

4 garlic cloves, crushed

150ml olive oil

500g fresh peas

500h conchiglie pasta

60g pine nuts

2tbsp kirmizi biber

40g basil leaves, torn up

240g feta cheese broken into chunks

Salt and white pepper

A note on the ingredients first – conchiglie pasta is the one shaped like a shell. Kirmizi biber is a mild Turkish chilli flake that has been rolled in oil. Pine nuts are surprisingly expensive. The yoghurt is proper thick Turkish yoghurt, by the way, not the home made stuff we did yesterday, which isn't thick enough. This is another dish from the master, Yotam Ottolenghi. I would happily give up meat and follow his recipes forever. The boy says he might think about it, which is praise indeed.

The boy is assembling the food processor as he likes gadgets. We need to get a better one. Once he’s got it together he adds the yoghurt, garlic, two thirds of the oil and 100g of the peas. He eats a small handful, which is why I started out with an extra 50g to compensate. He blitzes it until I say stop, which is when it is a pale green colour. Once he’s poured it into a large bowl he slopes off to watch The Simpsons on TV.

Cook the pasta until al dente, in lots of salty water. While it’s cooking, heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan and cook the pine nuts, being careful not to burn them. Add the kirmzi bulber, which will turn the oil orange.

Two minutes before the pasta is ready, tip in the peas. It will save washing another pan. When ready, drain it well. Tip it into the yoghurt sauce, but do it gradually so the sauce doesn’t split. Add the feta and basil and season with the salt and white pepper.

Transfer to bowls and then sprinkle on some pine nuts and spoon over some of the chilli infused oil from the pan.

The boy has popped a bottle of soave into the fridge and is opening it as if we’d already agreed to this. Good choice though.

Home Made Yoghurt

The boy picked up a book in a church jumble sale, about how to make your own yoghurt. It was 5p. He wants us to give it a go. I’ve read his book but am using a slightly more up to date version. A food thermometer will be really useful here.

1 litre full fat milk
65g bio-live yoghurt

Nothing else

As this only has two ingredients, get the best you can. We're using organic milk from Jersey.

Heat the milk in a large pan until it gets to 85C and it starts to bubble at the edges. Pour it into  a very clean bowl. Cleaning a clean bowl has been the boy’s job. We have a Mahler CD playing, that we bought from the same jumble sale for 10p. It will make the yoghurt feel at home. Let it cool down to 45C or just below.Whisk in the yoghurt - this is essentially the starter.

You now need to keep it in a warm place overnight. Next to a radiator would be good, though we’re  putting ours in a flask as we don’t have the heating on yet.

I want to thicken it slightly so I’m draining it through muslin for half an hour, just to get some of the water out. Chill in the fridge for another hour which will firm it up a bit.

I have mashed up some stoned black cherries a few hazel nuts and a little sugar to stir in for the boy but it’s too late. He has already found the yoghurt and added some banana Nesquik powder to his.

Rifat's Hot Mint & Coriander Chutney

This is another of my friend Rifat’s recipes, again given verbatim. I have been lucky enough to have had this made for me a couple of times and I can guarantee it is good.

Mint and coriander chutney very much suitable for freezing!

Chillies (lots)

Coriander (bunch/es)

Mint (bunch/es)

Half a mug of dried pomegranate seeds – soak in water for 30 minutes

Garlic (the amount is a personal preference thing)

Green mango (depending on how much of the chutney to are making – 1 smallish/medium mango for each 2 bunches of mint and coriander)

3 stalks of spring onion including the green bit do not waste it (for each 2 bunches of mint and coriander)

1 small to medium vine tomato

For this recipe I buy lots and lots of chillies because sometimes the chillies I have bought are just not hot enough so I just keep added more into the blender.

I use equal bunches of mint and coriander (but some people have more mint or coriander).

I freeze the chutney in small bags (I think they are 6 inches) because in bags they take up less room in the freezer (I can shovel them in all the nooks) and 1 portion in a bag is always enough (I hate to waste it as the washing of coriander and mint and the blender is such a chore).  

The absolutely best way to make this is by using a big granite pestle and mortal. If not the blender is fine, although you will still need to use a small pestle and mortal for the dried pomegranate seeds as they get completely ignored in the blender. If you add the garlic with the pomegranate seeds it stop the seeds flying around and out.

Put everything else in the blender. And the rest as discussed.

I can’t remember exactly what it was we discussed but I’m fairly sure that when you’re ready to serve it you bind the herb mix with yoghurt.

Fennel, Pear & Pecorino Salad

It’s pear season – not that our tree has yielded very much this year – these are shop bought and then ripened at home.

3tbsp lemon juice

1tbsp sherry vinegar

1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced

2tbsp good olive oil

1 ½ tsp caraway seeds

1tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

3 ripe pears, cored and cut into thumb sized pieces

60g Pecorino, shaved

Salt & pepper

We’re having pork chops braised in cider, and are having this as a starter. Toast the caraway seeds in a dry skillet and then give them a bash in a pestle and mortar. We’re not looking for powder.

Mix the vinegar and lemon juice in a large bowl and drop the fennel in and let it sit and soften for 20 minutes. The acid will mellow it. Mozart’s Coronation Mass will mellow you in about the same time. In a small bowl, mix the oil, caraway, maple syrup and ¼ tsp salt and black pepper to taste.

Strain in the lemon juice, leaving the fennel behind. The boy thinks he doesn’t like fennel but he will like this. The lemon juice has toned down the aniseed hit somewhat.

Add the pears to the bowl with the fennel in it – which will also be the serving bowl. Sprinkle on the dill and the pecorino shavings. Pour on the dressing, toss gently and it’s there. The boy is thinking about the pork chops and doesn’t comment on the salad. At least he hasn’t objected to the fennel.

Red Pepper & Chorizo Tapa

This was intended as a starter but the boy suggested tossing in a handful of kalamata olives and then folding it through some cooked farfalle pasta this time. If you do this, add a knob of butter and a tablespoon of the water the pasta has cooked in. This is the original recipe.

2tbsp olive oil

200g cooking chorizo chopped as small as you can get it

2 medium onions, sliced

3 red chillies, deseeded and sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 red peppers, deseeded and sliced quite finely

1tsp hot smoked paprika

100ml dry white wine

Sea salt & black pepper

A handful chopped parsley to garnish

Sourdough toast

Lots of chopping. The boy won’t do the onions because they make him cry and he’s far too manly for that, or the chillies because he once touched his willy after chopping them and that really did make him cry. I didn’t help things by laughing. Anyway. Do all the requisite chopping.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the chorizo. It will double the amount of oil in the pan quite quickly, and colour it a lovely orange with all the paprika.

Add the onions and cook over a low heat until they are soft, and then tip in the chillies, garlic, peppers and paprika. I think the sweet paprika will work best here.  Give it a stir for a minute and then pour in the wine. This is a Spanish dish so we are using Albarino, though not too much as we don’t want to sacrifice what we have left to drink. Get the boy to season with salt and pepper as he’s a natural at this.

Bubble on a low heat for half an hour and check again for seasoning. The boy thinks a pinch more pepper, though interestingly he thinks white pepper. Garnish with the parsley once he’s happy it’s right. He loves being consulted, but then he is good at this.

We’re having this with slices of toasted sourdough, adding a spoonful to the toast before we take a  bite. Kind of a Spanish Bruschetta. The Albarino cuts through it nicely. The pasta version with salty olives that the boy made with the leftovers is equally good.

Heirloom Tomato & Herb Salad

My best mate has been raving about this. It’s from our favourite steak restaurant. The tomatoes come from Borough Market and are a mix of scarlet and yellow. Some of the red ones have green stripes. They were grown on the Isle of Wight and are amazing. One or two are really knobbly.

This recipe  is stolen but I hope that I have eaten there often enough for them to forgive me.

500g really good heirloom tomatoes

100g organic cucumber

1 shallot

1tbsp mint leaves

2tbsp parsley

1tsp chives

A good squeeze lemon juice

Flaky sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

This is all about the tomatoes. Really fresh and ripe. Cut them in different sizes. The boy is chopping the herbs with the mezzaluna on a wooden board. Peel the shallot and get it into nice fine rings. Add it to the tomatoes and mix well with your hands. Some will be quartered, some sliced, some halved. Dice the cucumber. Add the herbs and lemon juice and mix again. It needs about half a lemon as they’re small. Otherwise adjust. This has to be good so it’s a thick skinned Capri lemon. Squeeze it through your fingers so you catch the pips.

No oil – it needs to remain fresh and sharp. Yes, tomatoes are naturally acidic, but really summer ripe ones are also sweet. If you’re not sure, a drizzle of grassy olive oil will not be the end of the world.

The boy has wisely left a few of the herbs in large bits, so there are both flecks and leaves. Let him season it; he’s really instinctive about it. Just make sure the salt is the best. Ours also came from Borough Market and was practically sitting in its own brine. It now sits in our ceramic salt pig. I want an earthenware one eventually. He turns it all over gently.  Can’t blame him for sucking his fingers when he has done. If you possibly can, let it infuse for 10 minutes or so.

Mushroom Soup with Garlic & Parsley

Some lovely plump chestnut mushrooms have turned up in the organic box. It’s chillier than it should be for this time of year, so something warming is needed.

25g butter

½ an onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

40g plain flour

700ml vegetable stock

250g sliced mushrooms

10 dried porcini mushrooms

A good handful chopped flat leaf parsley

75ml single cream, organic if you can

Salt & pepper

Melt half the butter and gently cook the onion and garlic. I’m making this for an early lunch and have Radio 4 on. The boy comes padding out of the bedroom in his pyjamas. He goes padding back in again when he realises there is no immediate food in the offing.

Stir the flour in – it will usually need a really good stir, to avoid any lumps. After a minute, add the stock. I have time, so mine is made from boiling an onion studded with cloves, two carrots, some thyme, celery stalks and a bay leaf in a litre of water. Usually I’d add some garlic but ours is too strong and it’s a little late for garlic scapes, which would be about right. The bay leaf is stolen from the tub outside our local pub. 20 minutes and that’s your stock. Purists don’t add peppercorns, which can make it cloudy. This is a creamy soup so it couldn’t matter less. I’m adding a few. Strain it once it’s done.

Add half the chestnut  mushrooms, all of the porcinis and parsley to the stock and stir well. It smells good and the boy comes padding out of the bedroom again. Once everything is tender, blend. It’s noisy so back into the bedroom he goes. My brother bought me a really good blender a few birthdays ago. I’m grateful. It has served me well.

In a clean pan, heat the rest of the butter and the remaining mushrooms. I’ve quartered them. Some music will temper this and I’ve chosen the live Callas recording of La Sonnambula, conducted by Bernstein. Am amazed to find that the boy likes it, given its rough sound. But it’s 1955, La Scala, there’s nothing like it. It would have been filled with white carnations. Bernstein was never as great as he thought he was. He brings out the emotion too easily. But Sonnambula can take it.  Stir in the cream, and heat it through. Ours comes from Jersey and looks almost yellow. The boy pops his finger into the waxed carton to have taste. He gets a swat on his bottom to send him on his way.  Pour  the blended soup into the pan and garnish with the rest of the parsley, salt and pepper. Quite a bit of both.

 We have a really good sourdough loaf, cut open lengthways, toasted  and rubbed with half a clove of garlic and a halved heirloom tomato from the garden. Both need to kind of melt into the bread. It has a drizzle of really green olive oil and a little flaky sea salt. We can then cut it into manageable pieces.  It’s the boy’s idea. He often has good ideas. A South African Chenin Blanc to go with.

Green Lentils with Ginger & Spinach

I’ve had flu for the last few days. I think that dal is the best thing for building you back up. The boy seems pleased to see me cooking again. Amazingly he’s fed up with KFC already.

200g green lentils

750ml water

6tbsp oil

2 green chillies, chopped

1tsp grated ginger

A handful chopped coriander

550g fresh spinach, chopped

2tsp salt

Black pepper

2-3tbsp lemon juice

The lentils don’t need soaking. These are like green split peas, but they do need a long simmer. About an hour, which is about long enough to listen to a Tchaikovsky symphony, full blast with the windows open. The boy likes symphony  number 5 whenever there is a summer  thunder storm.

In another pan, heat the oil and add the chillies and garlic. Both burn easily, so cook them slowly. Put the spinach in and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon. The overwhelming amount of spinach soon shrinks down.

I like rice with my dal, so I’m putting it on now. I’m sautéing onions until they are glossy but not brown, before adding the rice and water to the same pan. The onions will give the rice some sweetness. It’s a Madhur Jaffrey thing, and I love her.

Back to the dal. Add the cooked lentils to the spinach mix, along with the salt and simmer for another 25 minutes. Add the black pepper and lemon juice, which gives it a lovely freshness. Get the boy to taste. He thinks it needs more fresh coriander. I agree.

As well as the rice, we’re having this with yoghurt and walnuts. Yoghurt, more coriander leaves, walnuts, a green chilli, salt and pepper. The yoghurt should be as thick as you can get it. Chop what needs chopping and mix. If asked, the boy would say he could never be vegetarian. And yet…..

Pistachio Stuffed Lamb Breast

Lamb breast is cheap but it’s fatty. Not necessarily a bad thing. This will make loads

2 deboned lamb breasts

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

150g spinach leaves

75g shelled pistachios

100g fresh breadcrumbs

2tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

2tbsp mint, chopped

Point at the rosemary bush so the boy knows exactly which one it is. Too often he brings in a handful of lavender. He knows what mint looks like. Once he’s brought the herbs in get him to grate some of yesterday’s ciabatta to make the breadcrumbs.    Then let him off.

Chop the herbs. Chopping nuts is a pain as they have a tendency to bounce of the chopping board. I’m just giving them one or two bashes in a pestle and mortar. If half of them are broken, that will do. If you can find Iranian pistachios you will never regret it. Give the boy the ones you don’t need to cook with to keep him going until dinner.

Preheat the oven as hot as it will go – 240/Gas 9. Meanwhile fry the onion in some olive oil until soft and add the garlic once it starts to soften. We’re not looking to brown the onions here. Add the spinach and take off the hob as soon as it has all wilted. Stir it to give it a good mix.

In a bowl mix the breadcrumbs, pistachios, rosemary and mint together. Tip in the spinach mixture and combine really well. This is the stuffing.

Lay one lamb breast, skin side down on a board, and spread the stuffing on. Top with the other breast and roll it up tightly. Secure with string quite tightly. The boy will have to stop watching TV for a minute to put his finger on the knots. I can’t do butcher’s knots so it’s basically several shoelace knots with the ends trimmed off.

Roast for 40 minutes but turn it like a steak often so it browns all over. If it’s tied sufficiently it won’t leak. Turn the oven down to 180/Gas 4 and give it another 90 minutes. Lamb breast can be tough and you need it to leach a lot of oil so it needs a lot of cooking down.  If it starts drying out cover it with foil. Depends on the age or your lamb.

Give it a good 25 minutes to rest while you make some rice to serve with it. As always the boy isn’t getting away without a salad. Shredded Cos lettuce, grated carrot and halved cherry tomatoes dressed with lemon juice. No oil, the lamb will be fatty enough. Give the boy’s cat a little bit of lamb.

I have a good sourdough loaf so the leftovers will go in his sandwiches for tomorrow’s lunch. A generous smear of bottled mint sauce and some salt will make it taste less fatty once it’s cold.